The Bounty and The Renegade
by Nikkel
Summary: One outlawful vigilante, one seductress with a shirshu, and a whole lot of Fire Nation soldiers... sounds like fun, doesn't it? JunJet!


**The Bounty and The Renegade**  
_By Nikkel_  
(c) to Nickelodean, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko

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The cart bumped, jostled, and bounced along the rocky road. On its trailer was a heavy, titanium cage. Iron chains swung dangerously from its roof, loudly clanging against the enclosed cage, its inhabitants groaning and grunting with each crash. Strapped onto the side of the cage by thick, leather belts, a teenage boy wriggled in his hold, teeth clamped down on the long piece of wheat-grass in concentration. He momentarily flipped his shaggy hair out of his eyes, struggling to see in the dim light that filtered into through the shoddy cage's cracks. If only he could reach…

_BAM!_

"Dammit!" Jet shouted as his skull crashed against the wall yet again, the cart's uneven wheels clambering over another large bump. Stars popped in front of his eyes, disorienting him, but with a firm shake of his head he was able to concentrate again. There was a small shard of metal in his left hand, that had come loose from the cage, and he was using it to tediously wear down the leather belt that strapped him in by his legs, wrists, and shoulders. If he could cut the belt around his wrist free, he'd be able to tear off the rest of his bindings with ease. Then, he would grab his hook-swords (which were lying haphazardly in the corner of his dingy cage), bust open the lock and make a run for it.

The work coming along agonizingly slow, Jet ran over in his mind how he had barely managed to make it out of Lake Laogai alive: he had been unconscious, but it seemed that that Smellerbee and Longshot had managed to drag his body up to the surface before the place collapsed. He could only assume that it had been them, because there was no logical way that the Dai Lee would have. Being people of the forest, they had dug him a grave and placed him respectfully inside it. Instead of replacing the dirt and burying him, they had constructed a net of strong branches and sticks in his grave, and shoved a ton of leaves and grass on it. To them, this was not only a proper burial for their leader, but a trap for anyone that dared to cross it. They had placed his hook-swords standing up at the head of the grave, marking where he lay.

Jet had awoken the following morning, discovering where he was. His leg had been sprained, thankfully not broken, but it had hurt to put pressure on. He had dug through and broke the net of leaves and branches, scrambling painfully out of the hole, and had fashioned a makeshift splint to his leg. Then, he had to track down the rest of his group. Following others was typically an easy job for a man that had lived in the forest his entire life, but to Jet's dismay, the forest that he had been buried in was swarming in Fire Nation soldiers. Before he had even gotten the chance to find his friends again or contact anyone that he was alive, the troops had captured him and thrown him in a cage. Where his destination was, he had yet to find out.

He was certain that he had been travelling for several days, now. His sprain had subsided into a dull throbbing, and no longer bothered him. He _had _to get out, _had _to find some way out of the world and make it known that he was alive. What use was a dead leader? More than likely, the Freedom Fighters would fall apart. He wouldn't let it happen, not a chance. Instead of allowing the next bump on the road to crash his head against the cage, Jet focused on the sudden jerk to make a drastic cut in the belt. It sped up the process, to his delight, and sooner than later he was down to the last, meager threads. With another jolt of the cage, and a final slice with the piece of metal, Jet's left arm was free.

"Finally!" He grinned to himself, the belt around his waist falling loose. His arms now unbound, he reached up and gripped the belt around his shoulders. Jet yanked it, using all of his strength to get it off of him, and threw it aside. He bent down and ripped off the belt on his knees. He was almost free. Reaching over to the other side of the cage, Jet snatched his hook-swords. The cart ran over another bump, and he was thrown into the wall. No longer dazed by these crashes, he surged forward and slammed his heel into the metal door, breaking it off of its rusty hinges and sending it flying.

Seeing sunlight for the first time in days, Jet leaped out of the back, arms spread out wide and catching startled Fire Nation soldiers by the throats. He dragged them to the ground, glaring challengingly at the troops that had been following the carriage. But before they could move or firebend, he surged forward and swung his swords against them, his leg flying out and sending one man's helmet flying. The dust kicked up in a swirl as he exploded in rage, angry at them for capturing him and holding him captive, like a caged beast. Fire was blasted at his heels as he darted from the spot, the soldiers missing their target every time. Jet was an unstoppable force as the parade halted, surrounding him, sharp spears and maces prepared to take him down. They closed in on him in a circle, forcing him to a standstill. He stood posed, hook-swords gleaming, breathing heavily and wheat-grass hanging limply in his mouth.

"Come _on_." He smirked, panting. "You guys are such losers. You can't even hold properly hold me captive. How do you intend to hold all of the war prisoners?"

One of the troops roared and thrust his lance forward, meaning to stab the fearless rebel, but missed. Jet jumped and monkeyed his way over an ostrich-horse's pulling another cart carrying another cage. He climbed over the ostrich-horse's saddle and up the front of a cage, and landed on the metal roof, letting its inhabitant know that there was hope for breaking free. A burst of fire seared over his shoulder, dragging ash on his armor plate. He took this as a notion to leave, and did so, if not busting up a few more soldiers on his way out. Jet thrashed three men before he high-tailed it to one of the trees, scrambling up it as if he were a canyon crawler. He made his getaway fast, bounding expertly from branch to branch, tree to tree, boulder to boulder. Occasionally he took out a dagger that he had snatched from one of the soldier's and made a heavy slash against the tree trunks, marking his trail. He was aware that the Fire Nation could track him this way, but knew that he had to somehow make a path. He had to get back to them somehow and sabotage them, and let all of the other prisoners free.

By nightfall, he had travelled a great distance. Jet finally settled to the ground, silently landing, hook-swords still prepared for anyone that crossed him. He had landed in the front of an Earth Kingdom tavern, alight with laughter and music. It was four stories high, with elegant red-bark roofs and supported by thick, chestnut stalks of wood. Cautiously viewing his surroundings, he found that the forest around him was absent of any Fire Nation soldier. A couple of people walked up the dirt path and entered the tavern, completely inconspicuous. Deciding that the bar would be no threat to him, he placed his swords at his sides in their respectful holsters. Brushing the ash off of his shoulder and picking the leaves out of his hair, Jet walked into the tavern like an ordinary civilian.

The place was thriving with lights and sound. Music played by a live band danced in the air, people drinking and joking and playing around with delight. They were a variety, some similar to Jet in appearance with weapons on their backs or at their sides, and some not. He fit right in, with his darkened eyes and wary stance, careful to watch his back. A couple of frighteningly buff men wrestled in one corner of the room, shouting and yelling at one another about a game, and it was assumed by the other customers that it was just a friendly quarrel. Jet certainly hoped so as he sidled into the stool at the bar table. He shadily ordered himself some fire sake, sipping it slowly, watching all around him.

"First time in a bar?"

Jet jumped at the sound of the voice, surprised, only to find that it was a woman sitting next to him. She was giving him a casual smirk, a dark curtain of hair falling in front of her pale complexion. There was a smug look to her features, though calm and collected amber eyes gazed smartly at him. He noticed a red snake-and-spiral tattoo on her shoulder, peeking out above her dark sleeve.

"No," he lied, taking a heavy gulp of the sake and looking away. He instantly regretted it as it stung is throat and made tears come to his eyes.

"Liar," she laughed at him, flipping her hair and sipping her drink. "You young boys are all the same, puffing out your chests and thinking yourself strong."

"Well, that's because we _are _all strong." Jet retorted, nibbling on his wheat-grass.

"Hah! There isn't a man alive I've met yet that could take down a whole squadron of Fire Nation soldiers."

"Then guess what."

"What?"

"I can do that."

"_Really_ now? Prove it."

"All right then." Jet smirked, and placed his hook-swords on the counter in front of them. The sharp edges were still smeared with a bit of blood. The woman leaned over and ran a bare finger along the sleek metal, rubbing off the blood and a spot of ash. She brushed the mixed substances between her fingers, examining them. She smacked her ruby red lips; pursed.

"Interesting," she said, leaning back and sipping her sake. "The name's Jun."

"Jet."

"Cute name for a cute boy."

"What?!"

"Hey, you're cute." Jun shrugged. "And the name fits."

"Yeah, well…"

"So if you _have _taken down a squadron of soldiers and like to fight the Fire Nation, what's a rebel like you doing in a tavern like this?"

"It's… kind of a long story."

"Jet boy, I've been here all night. A story would do me some good," Jun chuckled, and with that, Jet proceeded to tell her his tale of brainwashing in Ba Sing Se and his escape from the Fire Nation soldiers. Jun regarded him with mild interest, sipping her sake slowly as he explained, in detail, of his journey.

"…And then I walked in here." Jet finished up, drinking the last of his sake.

"That's quite a story," Jun commented. Jet nodded and chewed on his wheat-grass.

"Yeah. But you know those other prisoners I mentioned? I wanna get 'em out."

"Out?"

"I'll bet anything that those are innocent people in there, taken captive by the Fire Nation," Jet declared, and pounded his fist on the table. Admist a tavern full of people that threw chairs across the room, his statement was only heard by Jun. The bartender strolled by and noticed that both of their cups were empty.

"More sake?" The bartender asked Jet.

"No. I have a job now." He shook his head, knowing that now was the time to go back and help the prisoners.

"That'll be five bronze coins."

"What?"

"You heard me. Pay up."

"Sorry pal, but I don't have any money."

"I said, _pay up_."

"Yeah, and I said—"

"Guys, guys." Jun waved her hand, catching both of their attention. "Relax. I'll pay for him."

"Really?" Jet was surprised.

"Yeah. If we're going to take out a couple of Fire Nation soldiers, I doubt he needs financial issues haggling his back," Jun replied, and handed over the money for both her and Jet.

"You're going to help me?" Jet asked.

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Like I said, you're cute." Jun shrugged. "Now let's get a move on. Nyla's waiting."

Jet and the bartender exchanged glances. The bartender shrugged, and Jet replaced his hook-swords at his side. He half-smiled to himself, and followed Jun out the back door of the tavern. He didn't know who "Nyla" was, but to him it didn't matter. He was going to take out the Fire Nation soldiers, and the more power, the better.

The back of the tavern was much quieter than the front. The only sound was the padding of dirt beneath his shoes and the chirping of cricket-beetles. The light was significantly dimmer, so Jet could hardly see. Jun was a faint silhouette in front of him, and he squinted in the darkness to see that she was approaching a much bigger creature. It was about the size of a komodo-rhino and made strange snuffling noises, like a badger-mole.

"What in the world _is _that thing?" Jet asked, stopping in his tracks and pointing at the animal, skeptical. Jun patted the beast's fine, afghan-like hair.

"This is Nyla. She's a shirshu," She explained. "She can track down any person and any thing in the world, dead or alive. All she needs is a scent. Those swords of yours still have the soldier's blood on them?"

Jet eyed the creature with suspicion. He had never seen such a thing, let alone knew an animal that could track down someone just by scent alone.

"Yeah…" he said slowly, and handed her one of his hooks. She practically swiped it from him, holding it beneath the Nyla's star-like nose, which sniffed it hungrily, absorbing each and every scent upon it. She let out a small snarl and raised her elongated head, sniffing the air and looking around for any traces of a similar smell. Her breathing quickened excitedly, behemoth tail swinging back and forth, platypus-bear paws pacing the ground. Jet saw Jun smirk as she handed him his hook-sword back, and she approached Nyla, grabbing the reigns, and swung herself up on the shirshu's saddle. She looked down at him.

"You comin' or what?" she scoffed, and Jet nodded approvingly. Jun let down a hand and helped him onto the saddle, sitting behind her. He had to place his arms around her waist to keep from falling off, his cheek pressing into the leather-hide cloth of her back.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said determinedly. "Let's get those Fire Nation soldiers."

And with that, Jun pulled out a venomous whip from her side and cracked at the shirshu's thighs. They shot off like a wild slingshot into the forest, moving, twisting, turning, running along so fleetingly it looked as if they were phasing through trees. Several times Jet thought that they were going to run into a boulder or smash into an oak, but Nyla veered off in a different direction each time, knowing exactly where she was going with magnificent grace and agility. He felt leaves brush past his skin, light, razor-like touches, but they went by so quickly it was like wind. Had he not been holding on to Jun, he swore that he would have fallen off. They travelled for what appeared to be miles, Jet able to catch small glimpses of the trees he had marked previously, knowing that they were going in the right direction. He felt a surge of anger go through him, remembering the soldiers, and how they mistreated him and all of the other captives. They were going to _pay_.

.:.:.:.

The Fire Nation prisoner train was walking steadily along, holding on to torches. There was no moon that night. The fire illuminated the general area, gleaming off of the iron collars around poor Earth Kingdom citizen necks and shackles around unaligned civilians. Soldiers marched, spears pointed and ready, helmets secure upon their heads and ready for any sort of danger that struck in the night. The ostrich-horses crowed softly as their eagle legs walked, and the dragon-moose steadily pulled the squeaking, bouncing carriages along. It had calmed down since one of the prisoners had broken out earlier—the wounded soldiers riding along on a wooden cart, and the party planned on stopping in the next town. They had hoped to reach the village by nightfall, but it seemed as if they had miscalculated their positioning. Thus, they were forced to walk through the night, guided only by firelight.

A cacophonic howl raised in the air, and all of a sudden a monstrous beast landed out of nowhere in front of their path, snarling and baring white fangs, opening its mouth and launching a paralyzing tongue. Two figures leapt off of the shirshu's back in unison and landed on either side of the soldiers, a female lashing out a whip and a male drawing twin swords from his back. In a flurry the first row of soldiers were completely mauled, being knocked to the ground in addition to being utterly paralyzed by Nyla.

Jun's whip coiled like a deadly cobra around her, drawing the soldiers in so she could crack their armor with a punch or send them crying for mercy as she launched a heel into their stomachs. She twisted and turned, slashing off the ends of their spears, leaving them with useless sticks. She picked up one for herself and doubled her weapons, able to fight with both a long-ranged whip and short-ranged staff, swinging both dangerously around. She smirked behind a dark curtain of hair, licking her ruby-red lips as a crimson lash scorned across a man's cheek, who screamed in agony and rolled on the ground. She kicked him away and down a ditch, leaping away just as fire came hurtling towards her. She was faster than any bender, mirroring the movements of her shirshu, knocking soldiers out with elegance and speed.

Jet fought alongside her at a more brutal pace, hands reaching out and crashing helmets together, and then running over and swiping his metal hook-swords down prisoner chains. He beat the shackles several times, trying to pry them loose. A soldier came up behind him to stop him, but he launched a kick, pummeling him away.

"Come on, dammit!" He growled, and pulled with all his strength at the chains. All of a sudden the holster broke, and he faced the line of prisoners. He surged forward at them and they cowered with fright as his hook-swords came swiping past their necks, but Jet was skilled—in a single, fluid movement beside them he was able to unlock their neck braces. They looked on in awe as he leapt on top of one of the prisoner cages, the animals tugging them screaming, bucking and shying wildly in fear. Jet bent over and pried the doors off the cages by using his hook-sword as a crowbar, jumping inside and setting the captives free. He moved along with a swift, brutish justice, allowing shackles to fall to the ground, broken. In only a matter of seconds, all the prisoners ran away from the scene and huddled in a group, watching in awe as the Fire Nation soldiers piled higher and higher in defeat.

But they were closing in on Jun. She twirled her whip around her like a tornado, keeping them back, but it was the firebenders that had closed in on her. They looked at her as their prey as she dodged their attacks, but just barely, hardly being allowed any room. Jet dashed over to the circle and grabbed two soldiers from behind, darting into the middle beside her. He tightened his grip on his hook-swords as they stood back-to-back, the firebenders all preparing to strike, their hands glowing orange and gathering flames. Jet then let down his swords and Jun her whip, glancing at one another out of the corner of their eyes, reading one another's minds. The moment the first ember crackled from one soldier's fingertip, they leapt into the air, Nyla soaring above them, and they caught the reigns and tugged themselves up onto the saddle. The firebenders blasted one another in a gigantic explosion, sending one another flying in all different directions, victims of their own attacks.

Nyla landed on the earth, snuffling and lashing out her tongue again to a soldier still moving, who sputtered as he fell back to the ground. Jun snapped the reigns, commanding Nyla to halt. She slid off the saddle and approached the shocked prisoners, who now stood freed a good ways away. Jet followed her.

"You're safe now," she explained. "There's a village not far from here, head a little east. And don't worry about the animals, this forest is relatively friendly. You'll be okay once you get to town."

"Thank you for freeing us," an old man complimented, his eyes watery. "We were on that trail for so long, and we are so tired, and… thank you."

"No problem. We'd take out soldiers any day." Jet replied. The group of former captives smiled and thanked them again, and then disappeared into the forest, going in the direction they were told. Jet waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, his mind still racing, and heart pounding with adrenaline. Victory against the Fire Nation felt so good, and he knew that he couldn't have done it without Jun. He looked over to find her stroking Nyla and was feeding her a large piece of meat that she had stolen from one of the carriages.

"Thanks for your help," he said, and placed his hook-swords back in their respectful places. "It was nice to have a partner."

"What can I say? I love a little action on the job," she answered.

"Yeah. So I guess I'll see you around some time in the Earth Kingdom."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you owe me."

"What? Owe you what?"

Jun unfurled her whip, and Jet's eyes grew wide. But before he could draw up his arms and take out his swords, the whip spun out around his waist and dragged him to her. He struggled on the ground, fidgeting, wondering how he had been betrayed and captured so easily. He grunted, writhing to break free, and like a devious predator Jun knelt down beside him. She licked her lips, and dragged a fingernail beneath his throat, observing his indian skin and bewildered expression.

"You owe me a drink, cutie."

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**Author's Note: **Although I've never really written Jun or Jet before, they're my absolute favorite crackpairing (ignoring the major age difference of course). And the whip-capture thing at the end there was totally inspired by Indiana Jones.

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End file.
